A Stitch in Time Pt. 02

He was looking at me, waiting for an answer. To him, apparently, only the guilty needed a lawyer.

"Okay," I nodded.

Jill looked at me in triumph, Tiffany in disgust, Jeanne in despair. When I knocked on Jeanne's door that night, she still had the same look in her eyes.

"Cammie must have told you I couldn't have done this," I pleaded with her.

She nodded.

"Please, Jeanne, you've gotta believe me," I said.

"Then why wouldn't you tell me that you didn't videotape her?" she demanded.

I knew this would be the sticking point. I'd searched my computer looking for every video file on it. Most of them were porn, but none of me and Stephie. Actually, I was happy to see, none of me at all.

But I didn't have many choices to correct the "lie" that Jeanne thought she'd caught me in when I'd refused to deny that I'd videotaped Stephie. I could lie about the lie: no, Jeanne, that never happened, you must have misinterpreted my silence. Jeanne was too smart for that. My second choice was to tell the truth, about everything, and hoped she believed it. I hadn't a shred of proof to back me up, though, and her most likely reaction was just to tune that out as just another lie.

My third option: the even bigger lie. Just one that sounded more like the truth.

"Because I did," I said.

Her eyes widened.

"But nothing beyond just messin' around, you know?" I added quickly. "Stephie got real hot thinking about the idea of taping ourselves one afternoon. But I would never hit a girl."

"All right," she finally said, opening her door to me and admitting me to her room. I sat on her bed and explained my odd little friendship with Ms. Carter, concluding with her recommendation that I hire a lawyer.

"I thought of Aunt Ruth," I said eagerly.

"Yeah, she would," Jeanne said. "But Aunt Ruth and Uncle Bill just left for a two-week cruise. I don't know what to tell you."

"Well, Ms. Carter said that Mrs. Torianni would represent me," I said. "That's better than nothing, I guess. Will you go to church with me on Sunday?"

She looked a little taken aback.

"Why?"

"I dunno," I said. "I just figured that the more people I had praying for me, the better chance I'd have of actually getting it answered."

"Sure, Trick," she smiled. "I'll be happy to say a prayer for you."

Jeanne and I began our real thaw — unlike the Christmas day thaw, which was just like that thaw you get in late January before the real blizzard arrives — the next day. I took her out driving for two hours on Saturday morning in the mall parking lot, and then we had lunch together in Bennigan's.

"Thank you for the new glasses," she said shyly at one point when we were waiting for our burger to arrive.

"Sure," I smiled.

"I actually had a few guys checking me out last week," she smiled back.

"And why not?" I said. "You're a great girl. Hot, smart" — always list hot first — "fun to be with."

Oh, shit. Sammy Houghtaling.

"You haven't said you'll go out with any of 'em, have you?" I asked.

She blushed.

"Nobody's asked me," she said. "Why?"

"I, uh," I stammered. "I kind of promised a guy I'd find out if you'd go out with him."

"What guy?" she narrowed her eyes. "Why doesn't he just ask me?"

"He's a coward," I shrugged. "I'll just tell him no."

"Wait a minute," she said, putting a hand on my arm. "Who is it?"

"Why?" I asked. "He's a wimp. You can do better than him."

She was getting ready to explode at me when she realized I was just teasing her.

"Tell me," she whacked me on the arm.

"Sammy," I said.

"Sammy Houghtaling?" her eyes lit up. "Are you serious? He's, like, the most gifted guy in the whole school."

"Musically," I said.

"Period," she said. "He's also first in your class."

"Speaking of my class," I saw an opportunity, "when did Cammie join my class?"

"Just this year," Jeanne said. "When she realized she'd have enough credits to graduate this year. She used to be in your class, actually, 'til she went to France. Then she got behind a little bit. Anyway, she got really bored last year, so her mother let her skip eleventh grade. She said you were in her Astronomy class. When did you get interested in Astronomy?"

"I'm not, particularly," I said. "Although it looks like a fun class. I'm just trying to get my GPA up."

"Why?" Jeanne asked. "Oh my God, you still want to go to UVA, don't you?"

"Yeah," I agreed. "If I ace all my courses and double my SAT score."

"But why?" Jeanne asked again. "You spent the last, like, two years being a, well, a..."

"Jerk?" I asked.

"Yeah," she said. "A jerk."

"I guess I just decided I didn't like being a jerk anymore," I said after a long pause. "You certainly meet better girls that way."

"You've got a new girlfriend already?" Jeanne smiled, taking just as much delight in my life as she did in hers.

"Just a friend," I nodded. "She's a transfer student."

Jeanne knew enough to let it drop.

"What happens when baseball season starts up again and you start hanging out with your, uh..." she started.

"Asshole friends?" I suggested another ending.

"Yeah," she grinned.

"Most of 'em have graduated, haven't they?" I asked.

"That's true," she thought for a minute. "You guys aren't gonna be that good this year, are you?"

"That's what Coach says," I agreed.

"Probably be good for you to suck," she laughed.

"It probably will be," I nodded.

We reached a natural pause, so I asked her point-blank what I should tell Sammy.

She picked up one of her last French fries — lunch had come and nearly gone by this point — and twirled it in her hand.

"You tell Sammy Houghtaling," she smiled, "that if he wants a date with a hot, smart, fun-to-be-with junior, he ought to ask her pretty damn quick."

We both laughed at that, and after lunch she drove us home. Dinner was another mostly silent affair, and when I knocked on Jeanne's door that evening afterward, I found she was out for the night.

We did drive to church together the next morning, though, although we still sat in different pews. Afterwards she left to spend the afternoon with Cammie and I left to drive myself home. I hoped that she hadn't forgotten her promise to say a prayer for me. Because I didn't want to ruin what had turned out to be a pretty nice weekend by getting thrown out of school the following week.